Success Story
Talk It Up - Cheryl Gonzalez of Idea Concepts
Cheryl Gonzalez knew all about Network Marketing-- or did she? She had an aunt in Amway, another aunt in Shaklee, and she was always getting catalogs in the mail about this or that opportunity. Networking was always something right there on her periphery-- close enough so that she knew it existed, but just out of the way enough so that she never really understood what it was all about.
As a health and wellness consultant, Cheryl worked long hours helping and educating people about taking better care of themselves. When one of her aunts got involved in a new nutrition-based network , she mailed some products to Cheryl in 1990 for her advice.
"I was definitely impressed," she says. "I could see that these were some terrific products that would really help people, and you couldn't find them in stores. I didn't understand that." So Cheryl's aunt and uncle gave her the big picture of the company behind the product, and Cheryl jumped into Network Marketing full of excitement and optimism.
But when things didn't work out, the excitement began to fade....
All I really understood about Network Marketing at first was that it was a way to franchise myself. I thought that was a great idea, to get these products out there to help people and educated them about health. But it didn't work out that way.
My closest upline was halfway across the country from me. Yes, I was a self-starter, but there's a difference between being a self-starter and doing it all on your own with little or no training and guidance. Looking back, I really should have been a casualty of the industry, because I failed so miserably for the first three years. I didn't understand anything I was doing. I said all the wrong stuff. I approached people the wrong way. I was so excited to say it was Network Marketing, and everyone would say `those are pyramids." I didn't even know what that meant. My husband was encouraging in the beginning, but after awhile he was like, "This is nuts, look how hard you're working and nothing's happening."
Eventually I left that company. It just wasn't the right fit. I thought there was much too much emphasis on recruiting and making money, and that's not what had attracted me. I was really excited about the products and about how people could benefit from them. That was my hot button. My passion was helping people with health, not with wealth. I was fortunate to find another company that was more in line with my values.
When I got true to my own values-- which is all about helping people and promoting products that I believe in-- success just ran through the door. It was amazing. Everything clicked.
In the first company I was with, it was really the lack of support that presented the greatest challenge. People believed that I was a self-starter, but that made them think they didn't have to tell me anything. But Networking was new to me. I didn't know what I was doing.
When I finally understood the full picture of this industry, I had the attitude: I'm going to do it or die. If you just make sure you're working at it every day, it works.
I am very honored that Upline wanted to write about me, because in no small way Upline saved my life. Upline really gave me the resources to start understanding what I had gotten myself into. By reading Upline each month, I learned that the challenges I was up against had been faced by other professionals before me.
If I can look back on anything that really made it possible for me to get where I am, it was Upline. Once I got back in my passion, and really understood that the goal was to help other people-- not simply recruit or make money-- then it was easy.
This whole business gets down to talking to people. If you don't do that on a consistent, daily basis, you're not going to get anywhere. Look , if you don't get out there and let people know what you have your hands on, no one's going to know. It's not like you're going to put a big neon sign on your house that says "I've got a new home business, come and talk to me about it." People won't know unless you talk to them and explain it to them.
If you're not out there constantly exposing people to the products and the opportunity, your business just won't grow, and you'll end up being so frustrated that you'll quit. This happens to a lot of people who get into Network Marketing. They don't commit to a consistent, daily effort to talk to people. Just because you sign up doesn't mean your business is going to grow. You've got to work it, and that means talking it up.
I never talked to any fewer than ten people in the morning, ten people in the afternoon, and ten people in the evening. That's a minimum of 30 people a day-- prospects and customers. You can certainly do less if you want, but how fast do you want your business to grow? The more people you talk to every day, the faster it will happen for you.
True, long-lasting success comes to those who are pure of heart, and who work hard to help other people. If what you are doing is in line with your values and your passions, if you honestly believe that what you are doing can help other people, and if you are willing to focus on others before you worry about yourself, then you can create the exact same success that I have had.
Network Marketing has dramatically influenced my life. The business has put me in a situation where my time is my time. I feel free now. I have time and freedom that I never had before. Life is so different from this viewpoint.
One of the best things is that you get to work with other people who have great attitudes, are excited about life, and care about people. That's a plus. It's very empowering to work with positive, giving people.
But it never feels like work. It's like playing, because I really like what I do. Being able to be with my husband is wonderful. Before the business, we were working nearly 100 hours a week and never saw each other. We were exhausted. It has changed our lives. And I know it can for everyone who really gets the message.
CHERYL GONZALEZ is a full-time Networker with Idea Concepts, Network Marketers of health, nutrition, and skin-care products. A Master Executive, Cheryl has been with the company for almost three years. Cheryl lives with her husband Vic in San Antonio, TX.
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Reprinted with permission from Upline, Gonzalez - Success Story - July/August 1999, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
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